Recap guide
Recap the PlayStation 2
Original (phat) PS2 power supplies lose caps, and the console then shows no LEDs, no fan and nothing at all. The rest of the board is normally fine.
Open the interactive checklist Tick off each capacitor as you replace it. It saves in your browser.
Check first. A recap is not always the answer here, so look at the guides before you order parts.
Which board do I have?
Boards changed during production. These notes come from the linked sources, and many are only partly documented, so check the board in front of you.
- GH-001 and GH-003 (Japan, 2000; SCPH-10000, 15000, 18000) (Medium confidence). How to tell: A-chassis consoles; GH-001 has a green solder mask and GH-003 a blue one. Capacitors: No cap list found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- GH-004, GH-005, GH-006 (2000-2001; SCPH-30001 to 30004) (Medium confidence). How to tell: US and European launch boards in the B and C chassis with a split board design. Capacitors: No cap list found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- GH-023, GH-026, GH-029 (2003-2004; SCPH-50000 to 55007) (Medium confidence). How to tell: H, I and J chassis fat models; GH-023 adds the Dragon MechaCon. Capacitors: No cap list found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- GH-032 and GH-035 (2004-2005; SCPH-700XX slim) (Medium confidence). How to tell: K-chassis slim with an external power brick. Capacitors: No cap list found; the PSU C20 and C3 note applies to fat PSU boards. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- GH-051 and GH-061 (2006-2007; SCPH-770XX, 790XX) (Medium confidence). How to tell: M and N chassis slim boards. Capacitors: No cap list found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
- GH-072 (2008-2013; SCPH-900XX) (Medium confidence). How to tell: R-chassis final slim with an internal PSU. Capacitors: No cap list found. Capacitor list differs from other revisions: not known. Source
Where to start
Clues from write-ups and forum threads, not a diagnosis. Low confidence means one thread or one repair; high means several write-ups agree.
- No power at all (Medium confidence). ConsoleMods names C20, and maybe C3, as the usual culprits on original power supply boards, and says they often go bad without visible signs. Source
Tips, tales and maybes
Found in write-ups and forum threads. These are other people's reports, not tested by us. Check part references and values against your own board.
- Tip: Slim reads some discs then freezes (Low confidence). On iFixit a PS2 slim (SCPH-70003) that spun up but froze on DVD games even with three different lenses got an answer to recap the mainboard with a Console5 kit or check the laser ribbon cable. The asker's guess was that it mirrors PS1 slim disc faults cured by caps. Source
- Watch out: Cap burst while probing a power brick (Low confidence). A BitBuilt poster says a capacitor blew up in their face while they checked a PS2 slim power brick with a multimeter, so they bought a new brick. It is a reminder not to probe a live mains supply. Source
- Watch out: Do not probe a live supply (Medium confidence). ConsoleMods' PS2 PSU page warns that probing a live supply risks lethal electrocution, so unplug it before replacing parts. It adds that caps can fail without visible signs, that an LCR meter can flag out-of-spec ones, that a replacement must not have a lower voltage rating, and that a blown fuse means look for the cause. Source
- Tip: Shuts off after a few seconds (Low confidence). An iFixit answer on a PS2 that shut down seconds after power-on said to check the motherboard for shorts and to measure the caps there, since it believed the board rather than the supply was at fault. Source
Before you start
- Boards changed during production. Check your board number against the guides before you order parts.
- A mains power supply can hold a dangerous charge. If you are not trained to work on one, have a professional do it.
Guides we used
This page and the interactive bench are built from these. They have the photos and the full detail, so please read them and support their authors.
- PS2: Power Supply Repair (Step-by-step) by ConsoleMods Wiki, CC BY. Names C20 and C3 as the usual culprits on original/phat PSU boards; no value table
- Console5 wiki: PlayStation 2 (Wiki) by Console5. A community wiki page for this machine, often with board photos and capacitor lists.
The capacitor list
We have not checked a capacitor list for this machine yet, so none is shown. Follow the guide above for your board, then add the capacitors in the interactive checklist and it builds a shopping list for you.
Skip the sourcing
While you are in there
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. These links only search by name. Disclosure
Steps, tools and safety
The steps, the tools in top, middle and budget picks, and the safety list are the same for every machine, so they live on one page: How to recap, step by step.
Values are shown as published in the guides above, and boards changed during production. Check the board in front of you. A recap involves hot tools and, on some machines, dangerous voltages. You do it at your own risk.